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I read the article “Personalized Vocabulary Learning in the Middle School Classroom” by Robert Chesbro. This article discusses the importance of students making connections with vocabulary terms. Vocabulary is a huge component of lesson planning. In the first section, the author describes how students learn new vocabulary words by finding definitions and using the words in a sentence. The teacher allows students to use textbooks and dictionaries to define the terms, but that wastes instruction time. Chesbro (2016) states that teachers should give the students the definitions and expand on the terms. When students are defining and writing new vocabulary, they are just simply memorizing the terms. By just using memorization, students will not know how to apply the vocabulary word. Students need to make connections with vocabulary terms in order to retain them.

Chesbro (2016) mentioned the vocabulary worksheet he created for students to use when learning new vocabulary terms. The worksheet is titled “In a Word, In a Symbol”. In a chart, students are to write the term, definition, a one-word summary, symbol, and a sentence or two explaining a weird personal connection they have with the vocabulary term. Chesbro (2016) concludes that his approach for vocabulary terms make learning more personalized rather than memorization for students. Using this chart, students will be more engaged when learning new vocabulary terms.
Reference
Chesbro, Robert. (2016). Personalized vocabulary learning in the middle school classroom. Science Scope, April/May, 35-38.

Topic: Metric Measurement

I read the article “Science 101: Why Do We Need Standard Units?” by Bill Robertson. The article begins with how the author as a graduate student had a tour guide job at the National Bureau of Standards now renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology. For people on the tours, he would show them a movie about standards. Robertson (2014) notes that the movie explained the importance of having standard units with firefighters. A fire had broke out in Baltimore and burned for 30 hours. Fire hydrants outside of the city of Baltimore did not match the firefighters’ hoses, making it a struggle to get the fire out. If all of the fire hydrants matched the water hoses, the fire would have been put out quickly. Having standard units allows for items such as water hoses and fire hydrants to be perfect matches no matter the location.

In science, it is important to have exact measurement of items. Exact measurements are needed so scientists can compare their findings with each other. This concept of exact measurements is what students need to know when performing science experiments. Robertson (2014) mentions an activity that can be done in the classroom about exact measurements using paper clips. Students are given different sized paper clips and asked to measure their desks. The goal is for students to realize that due to the different sized paper clips, their answers will not be the same. It is important to use standard units because the units are the same regardless of location and to compare findings of data.